A/N: Hope you like it, I tried not to make Percy OOC but it's pretty difficult so let me know if I did okay? Enjoy!

NOTE: I do not own Percy Jackson or Heroes Of Olympus...If I did, I would not be writing fanfiction; I'd be writing The Blood Of Olympus and saving all of my favourite characters, including a epilogue with Percabeth's wedding.

I'm British, sorry for any British Grammar.

CHAPTER ONE.

Percy

This was it.

Rock bottom.

Percy sighed in anguish as he pushed open the doors of the tatty homeless shelter, the cold glass felt good against his burning, splintered fingers; But the rest of his body was ready to give up. His Percy battery was at 0.1%. He was starving. Thus, this was his last resort. He'd refused to give in to the smell of free - yet extremely average or unpleasant - soup emitting from the building as he wandered the streets. Because going to a homeless soup kitchen, would ultimately label him as a homeless person.

He really didn't want that.

But after days of his stomach growling at him and his ADHD brain imagining scenarios of transforming into a blue burger and eating himself, he decided to screw dignity. He was homeless now.

The room was just as bad as he'd pictured it.

It wasn't so much the room itself actually, just the abundance of Smelly Gabe lookalikes was enough to put him off. Percy just hoped that their personalities didn't resemble that of Smelly Gabe, otherwise he'd be out of there before you could say "I'd rather starve to death." Nonetheless, he scratched the back of his head shyly and stepped towards the end of an unfortunately long queue.

He felt so embarrassed here. Being an 18 year old surrounded by like, 100 year olds was so degrading. How often do you see a homeless teenager? Pretty much never. And everyone in this room that was roughly Percy's age was volunteering here. God knows why. Sure, they must get this warm, fuzzy satisfaction, bubbling inside after a long day of helping people...but looking around at the drunk, ill-mannered and well, dirty people, it didn't seem so worth it.

Yes, it's harsh to think that. But some of these people were here on their own accord, they probably didn't get kicked out onto the streets by their gross stepfathers like Percy. Their homelessness was probably a result of drugs or gambling. It seemed a little unfair.

Speaking of the volunteers, Percy found his eyes coming into contact with those of a girl serving soup. Percy looked away instantly, but he felt her stare glued to him. It was uncomfortable. He wasn't in the mood for pretty girls, and he especially wasn't in the mood for pretty girls feeling sorry for him without even knowing who he was. When he looked up again, he was thankful that she'd resumed pouring soup into bowls - what with all the embarrassing staring - and he had more time to observe her.

She seemed familiar.

Unusual grey eyes, blonde, curly hair...he'd met her before.

But maybe not. Maybe it was just another one of those times when someone even remotely nurturing had reminded him of his mother, Sally Jackson, and his mind instantly concluded that they'd met. When they hadn't.

Gods, his mother. He missed her so much. He missed her blue cooking and her hugs (whatever, he didn't care if that was uncool) but mostly he missed having her there to talk to, he hadn't had a friend in so long. His mom was always there though, stroking his hair and telling him it was going to be okay.

She wasn't always right about that. But he forgave her.

"Shut up, Brain." Percy mentally scolded himself for thinking about his mom, as usual. His emotional state was weakening, thinking about her was strictly rationed in order to prevent a break down which was probably stirring up by the minute.

"Next?" The pretty girl snapped him out of his trance. Along with a few agitated huffs from behind and even a forceful shove from a clearly pleasant, homeless person. Percy reluctantly walked over to the girl, momentarily contemplating making a run for it, but the skin tightening around his ribcage was enough of a kick up the butt to get him moving.

She smiled warmly at him as she reached for one of the bowls, Percy avoided her gaze, but it proved somewhat difficult after a while. She bit her lip, as though she was wanting to say something but couldn't, so Percy urged her on with a half-hearted smile of reassurance, not that he particularly wanted to hear what she wanted to say. After a moment of silence, she finally spoke.

"You're Percy Jackson, right?"

Percy's eyes widened in surprise.

Great. She knows who he is. Maybe he could lie; Say that Percy Jackson died of an awesomeness overdose two years ago, and that the Percy standing here right now was merely his evil twin who was totally not as cool as the real Percy Jackson. And maybe the pretty girl could give her number to the reincarnated ghost of the real Percy Ja-

Damn it, ADHD.

"Yeah. Why?" He didn't mean to sound so blunt, but he didn't know how else to respond to someone who he had no intention of communicating with during his current physical and emotional state. Pretty-Girl scanned his face briefly, a little more reluctantly than before. He thought that maybe he'd embarrassed her but Percy found it difficult to read people at times. Especially girls.

"I-... We went to the same Middle school?" She looked at him expectantly, Percy stared back blankly. "Come on, you don't remember me at all?" She questioned. Percy rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, unable to provide the response she was hoping for. "We were in the same shop class for a year!" She exclaimed jokingly, probably trying to make light of one of the most awkward situations Percy had ever faced.

Percy shrugged tiredly. "Sorry. I don't remember you." He mumbled, staring at the soup. Man, he hadn't eaten for days.

Pretty-Girl smiled sadly and handed him the bowl full of the warm substance. "Yeah, not many people do." She said, almost to herself. Percy nodded and glanced down at the bowl in his hands, wondering whether or not it'd be rude to walk away without another word and ravish his food. But he stayed put, after all, Pretty-Girl had provided him with his first meal in days, she at least deserved his acknowledgement.

"Well, anyway...thanks for the soup. It's really nice what you guys do for these people." He said genuinely.

Pretty-Girl seemed pleased by his comment, and she rewarded him with a smile. "Hey, no problem, it's nice seeing you again, Percy."

This made Percy's eye twitch. It wasn't nice seeing him again. He was homeless now, after all. How can it be nice to bump into one of your school friends at a homeless shelter, when not only are they a current filthy hobo now; But also completely forgotten you existed? This girl must be insane.

"Look, could you just like- forget you ever saw me here?" His lips started moving before he could determine the words that were pouring out on their own accord. "I don't know who you are but I know that if you knew me in middle school, then this," He gestured towards himself with his hands. "is not what you were expecting me to be like in the future. So I'd appreciate it if you'd just pretend like I'm a regular homeless kid, who you've never even seen before, please?"He pleaded.

The girl just stared at him and sighed.

"Look, you don't have to be ashamed of-"

"I'm not ashamed!" Percy protested. People were watching now. Awesome. Surrounded by tramps and he was the weirdest one there. His exhaustion kicked in, and all he wanted was to be back at home, in his warm bed, with his mom stroking his hair and telling him everything was going to be okay. He couldn't have that, but he was at least willing to settle for sitting down on one of the stools with his bowl of warm soup. "Just- just, forget it." He mumbled, miserably, dragging his feet away from the girl.

He didn't even know what he meant by "Just forget it." But it stopped her from bothering him, so he didn't care.

Super short, but I promise more content for future chapters...as long as you review! :)

-M